Blends for Friends—Winning Words for Wise Writers, Worthy Word Wranglers, and other Wanton Wrongdoers—Book Announcement from Psammeticus Press SpecGram Vol CLXXXVI, No 1 Contents

Rasmus Rask Diamond Puzzle X

by Lila Rosa Grau

This is the tenth Rasmus Rask puzzle, devoted to the original Mr. Charming Scandinavian Linguist. The puzzle is similar to a crossword puzzle, in that there is a grid for filling in words and phrases, and clues for the ACROSS and DOWN directions. However, all the squares in a Rasmus Rask puzzle are filled with letters, and the answers to the clues may (but are not required to) overlap. Clues for a particular row or column are given together, in the order they appear in the grid. No indication of the amount of overlap between clues is given. Letters spelling out RASMUS RASK in a diamond shape are given to provide a framework for filling in the answers.

Complete the puzzle and send your solutions to the editors of SpecGram by November 15th, 2019 and you could win a prize. The correct solution and winners, if any, will be announced in the upcoming December issue.

0  1  2 R 3  4  5 
1  K    A      
2 S          S   
3  A          M
4     R    U   
5        S      
Across
0
• A collection of texts with an irregular plural.
1
• Swedish flat-pack retailer.

• An Old World tailless simian, possibly a linguist.

2
• Greek letter, precursor to σ, descendant of Phoenician 𐤑.

• Heir of the U.S. National Bureau of Standards.

3
• A vulgar fellow who creates architectural designs with a computer, and is paid in the currency of America’s neighbor to the north.

• A West African instrument that can mimic the tone and prosody of human speech.

4
• The first person plural possessive pronoun.

• A language family of southern Africa that features bilabial clicks.

5
• Germanic synonym for Latinate gingivæ.

• Noun classes in European languages often align with this aspect of biology.
Down
0
• A networking company or a lake herring.

• According to the SpecGram Ministry of Propaganda, “You are an important ___ in the academic machine”.

1
• A cheese made by Trappist monks or a historical unit of weight in Egypt, Hungary, and Romania.

• A friend of Mowgli’s, made into a villain by Disney.

• An onomastically relevant orthographic variant of w.

2
• What one does to clothes and hair when overcome with grief.

• That which must not be followed by  -rf /. (Hint: ask a computational linguist!)

3
• In phonetics, one of these can be similar, minimal, or suspicious.

• Funny items on the SpecGram Twitter feed may generate these. (abbrev.).

4
• A package delivery service or a companion to downs.

• The symbol for element 119.

5
• The word with 430 definitions in the 1989 edition of the OED.

• Obsolete filth or a data selector.


A C Q U I R E S M A L A P R O P
D U C A G Y C P O O L S
D I A C H R O N I C F A M I L Y
R R E T R A G I C O M I C
E S T M A L W A R E H E H
S T E V E E X A L T G O
S Y R I A C S N E E H L
E P R O S O D Y M A A S A I
E X P E N S I V E E R U N T N
O V E R P E E P R E D A R G
R I D S L U R R E R I I I U
I I I C A R L I T O T A C I
E P A Y S A G E M A N T I S
N E P A L P O R C O N T
T A S P E N R P R O M E T I
E S T E L E A P H A S I C
D E T E R M I N E R P H R A S E S

The solution to October’s Cryptolinguistic Puzzle is provided here, with additional explanations given below.

Despite the high degree of difficulty, all of the following puzzlemeisters completed the puzzle and will be receiving prizes:

Vincent Fish • Jožefa Kovačič • Aoife Ó Briain

Across: 1. ac (qui) res; 7. anagram of polar map; 13. Ca. + -gy; 14. Po(lyglot fo)ols; 15. anagram of doric chain; 17. F(AMI)LY; 18. Tr. + Ag + IC + om + IC; 20. -est/ Fr. est (3ps of to be); 22. (mini)MAL + WA + RE(search); 23. H. + E. + H.; 24. EVE(N)TS backwards; 27. Ex- + a + L. + T; 29. (ma)SC AIRY S(peech) backwards; 31. N. + E. + E.; 32. Pro + Sody; 34. Ma + as + A.I.; 37. E + X + pens + I + V + E; 40. (theat)ER UNT(il dark), Lat. for they will be; 41. OV + E + R; 42. P.E. + E; 43. P(RED)AR, Port. for to prey on; 44. R.I.+ D; 45. One who slurs speech; 47. III; 48. (Lat. the same, the above, or three); 49. Carl + It. + O; 50. anagram of cat, Fr. for tick, tock; 51. PAYS + AGE (Fr. for countryside); 52. (se)MANTI(c)S; 53. anagram of plane; 55. PO(R.C.)O, It. for pig; 57. AS + PEN; 60. PRO + anagram of time, Port. 1S preterite of promise; 64. S + TELE-; 65. AP + has + IC; 66. anagram of pretenders ma hires.

Down: 1. Anagram of to see Ed tired and sore; 2. (A)QUA (O)R (WA)TER; 3. German for I; 4. R + are; 5. Latin for I; 6. Syn. (abbr. for synonym) + tax; 7. odd letters of “mock chap we lie by”; 8. Apac(h)e; 9. Abbr. for po(st)-mo(dern); 10. Initials form Irish for before; 11. O.-(I’ll backwards)-E.; 12 psych-(0)(linguist)-ics; 16. I.R.L. + AND + E, Fr. for Ireland; 17. FIR(E); 19. G + eta (backwards); 21. STY(LE); 22. MES(sie + U.R.)S; 25. V + I + per (Lat. for by means of); 26. E + A + R.N.; 28. anagram of again, Han; 30. even letters of “act or supply a gym”; 33. Over + pal backwards; 34. M(oraic structu)RE, abbr. for “Meal-Ready-to-Eat”; 35. Audi + T.A. (sish for 3ps auditor, s/he audits/inspects); 36. odd letters of “sit or pinch ten beasts”; 38. XI + III + III; 39. abbr. of pedicure, homophone (with U.S. flapping) of petty; 40. (J)ERRO (ld Katz), It. for I wander, Lat. for I wander, I get lost; 43. PE(T)ER; 45. REPLAC(E)S backwards; 46. RIG + OR; 51. PAST + E; (cras)H PROM(pts) backwards; 56. C(PA)P, initialism for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (treatment for sleep apnea); 58. EL (Sp. for the) + M; 59. E “stuck” in IN backwards, Esperanto for to deny; 61. OH + R, Germ. for ear; 62. Finnish & Estonian for earth; 63. TI(M)E.

Blends for Friends—Winning Words for Wise Writers, Worthy Word Wranglers, and other Wanton Wrongdoers—Book Announcement from Psammeticus Press
SpecGram Vol CLXXXVI, No 1 Contents